


Spider Riders: Glimmer of Hope

by Sebaren



Category: Spider Riders - All Media Types
Genre: Angst, F/M, Friendship grows in unlikely places, Gen, Giant Spiders, Manipulative Spider jerk, Shadow gets sulky, Shadow is precious and must be protected, Spirit Hunter is a saint, The Oracle does a thing, War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-15
Updated: 2019-04-15
Packaged: 2020-01-14 16:02:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,573
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18479590
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sebaren/pseuds/Sebaren
Summary: 6 years has passed since the fall of Mantid. Hunter Steele, now captain of the Spider Riders under King Lumen, has dedicated his life to protecting the creatures of the Inner World, but for all their strength, nothing could have prepared him and his team for the invasion that was about to occur.Struck down by the very creatures that they fight alongside, Hunter, reduced to a mere spirit, can only watch on from the Oracle Sun as humans and Battle Spiders, led by the mysterious and powerful Battle Spider Peste, tear each other apart. With his body healing, lying soulless in Arachna Castle, Hunter and the Spirit Oracle are forced to make a decision.After being dragged down to the Inner World and armed with Quake's old Manacle, 12-year-old Edward Smith is forced to become a Spider Rider in Hunter's place. With Glimmer, his Battle Spider partner, by his side, Edward is given no other option but to try his best to fit in with the Spider Riders. To bring an end to this war that Edward never wanted to be a part of in the first place, Glimmer must turn against her own kind and learn to harness the strange dark energy that runs through her body, threatening to tear both Spider and Rider apart.





	1. Start the Invasion

There was no greater cause for celebration, the various creatures of the Inner World had decided. 6 years, it had been, but the people of Arachna had been reluctant to simply forget about what was perhaps the greatest event to have ever happened during their lifetimes, and for quite a good reason. It had been 6 years to the day that the Spider Riders had returned from the home of the Invectids with their brand new Invectid allies, battered and bruised, but victorious nevertheless, and more than ready to usher in a new age of peace.

Despite their initial hesitation—which was understandable, as far as all involved parties were concerned—there were some concerns about the sudden appearance of Invectids within their midst, but their trust in the Spider Riders had allowed the people to set aside their differences for a time, and with time came forgiveness, even if the people could not truly forget.

It was a wonderful day for the people, 19-year-old Hunter Steele told himself as he watched the festivities through one of the castle's many windows, watching as Corona hurried about with a bright smile on her face, her unusually bright blonde hair shining like a beacon amongst the people of the city. She had been determined to take part in all of the festivities this year, having been forced into patrolling the year before, and Hunter was pleased to see her so happy.

Hundreds of vibrantly-coloured paper lanterns flickered across the city, casting their soothing, twinkling glow upon the brightly-coloured banners, the souvenir and food stalls, and the dancing creatures who came from all over to take part in the festivities. A lot of work had been put into the celebration that year, as always.

"You still aren't taking part?" a lazy voice asked from behind Hunter with a stifled yawn.

Hunter turned to face his best friend—amongst humans, anyway; if he forgot Shadow, the Spider would end up being troubled by it, even if he was loathe to admit it—as the 19-year-old king ambled down the hallway, his arms behind his back, and his violet eyes twinkling in the low light. His formal white robes swept across the floor as he came to join Hunter by the window, the golden bracelets, belt and necklaces with their precious stones glinting in the light from the lanterns outside.

The diamonds on his large gold crown, the inside lined with something like red velvet, glimmered similarly from its place atop Lumen's head, his long dirty blond hair falling neatly around his shoulders in slight waves. When he finally turned to look out the window, Hunter was able to see that even the sapphire blue cape that he wore was studded with clear gemstones—more diamonds, perhaps? Hunter had to wonder what would happen if any of them ever popped off. He assumed that most of the castle would be enlisted to look for them.

"That's the first time you've had to wear that. Must weigh a ton. Are you used to it all yet?" Hunter asked with a smile as he gestured to Lumen's kingly garments, hoping that he'd skilfully avoided the question.

"Ah, yes," Lumen muttered with a sigh as he looked down at his robes. "I don't think I'll ever get used to this. It's far too heavy, positively ghastly, and much too thick for a warm day like this. I even have my own clothes under this, just in case something happens and we must fight, not that it will. How Father did it, I'll never know. It's only a show of power for the everyone from the other kingdoms, though. Tradition and all that. I'll have it off sometime after noon tomorrow when the last of the visitors leave...but that's nothing to do with the question I asked, you, is it?"

Hunter let out a playful groan. "I keep telling you, Lumen, I'm not interested. All that stuff that went down in the battle with Mantid..." Hunter shuddered, his voice trailing off as his mood rapidly declined. "I'm just not comfortable with that," he finally told his friend. Lumen grimaced.

"I will admit that your little outburst under the influence of the Oracle's power was...uncomfortable to watch, to say the least, but we were all equally susceptible to such a thing. If it hadn't been you, it would have been someone else. You did the right thing in the end. He's happy somewhere," Lumen told Hunter with a gentle smile, his voice soothing. "Either way, it wouldn't kill you to at least make use of the day off that you've been turning down every year. The people are starting to think that you dislike them. You've never once shown up to the celebration that they mostly throw in your honour."

"Maybe someday," Hunter responded rather abruptly, his mind already racing as he tried to think of another topic, but from the expression on Lumen's face, he already knew that the young king knew that he would get no more out of him. "Why don't you take that off, at the very least?" Hunter raised his hand, covered by a white glove, to point at Lumen's crown. "Give your neck a break. It's just the two of us here."

Lumen let out a dry laugh. "Not likely. The nobles have been hovering around me like mosquitoes all night, trying to earn my favour. They'll soon be trying to find me again, if they aren't already. If I take this off, it'll look like I'm not taking their presence seriously, and it would be rude of me to retreat to my room, I fear," Lumen informed him, suddenly looking very tired—an alarming contrast to his usual lazy, somewhat apathetic expression.

"Well, at least you can rest easy knowing that the people of the kingdom don't care what you look like," Hunter told him with a grin, trying to lighten the mood. Lumen shot him a mischievous grin.

"What's that supposed to mean, if I may ask?" Lumen responded, a laugh nearly slipping out as he anticipated the answer.

"Well, think about it," Hunter went on with a grin. "How often do they see you covered in mud? What about that time you got locked out of the castle in your boxers, and on top of that, how many girls have shot you down over the years?"

"Oh, Hunter! That last one was a step too far! How could my good friend say such a thing?!" Lumen dramatically exclaimed, making grand gestures with his arms as though he were truly offended. "As for the second one, that would never have occurred had  _your_  girlfriend not gotten unnecessarily mad at me, and just over a little paperwork!"

"Hey, I don't control Corona. She controls me," Hunter admitted with a shrug and a light chuckle.

"In addition to that, all of Corona's sisters control Corona," Lumen bluntly declared, and Hunter had to agree, but before he could respond with the joke that he'd planned, a booming voice echoed down the hallway.

"Ah! Your Majesty! I've found you at last!" the owner of the voice exclaimed in a sickeningly fake posh accent.

Despite having never met him before, Hunter already had an idea of who this man might be. He'd heard enough from Lumen to figure it out for himself. This was, unfortunately, the lord of a rather large mining town to the east called Lord Gammon, and Hunter had to agree with Lumen's previous suggestions about the man. He was the sort of man who used cheap materials to craft clothes in the image of kings despite his obvious lack of class.

The excessively portly man strode forwards, his royal red robes, held tightly at his waist by a tight black belt that tried in vain to reduce the size of his stomach, swishing behind him, a white fur cloak of unnecessary length dragging on the carpet behind him. His fingers were covered with an assortment of gaudy jewellery that, if Hunter had to guess, as a whole wouldn't even come close to scratching the price of the cheapest piece of jewellery that Lumen wore that night.

The brightest thing about him, though, was not a jewel, but his bald head, which was clearly visible beneath a slick black wig that was far too small for his large head. His beady dark grey eyes shone greedily as he turned to the other nobles that he was with to casually—and rudely, in Hunter's opinion—dismissed them, much to their annoyance.

" _Hunter...!_ " the young king hissed quietly, sounding distressed, but not without a sounding somewhat indignant. "That's Lord Gammon...! He's an absolute  _nightmare_ , and that guard of his has been glaring at people all night, looking down his nose at them...! The absolute  _nerve_  of them...! Do stand behind me, will you Hunter...? Glare back if he glares at you... That'll show him..."

"Is that proper...?" Hunter whispered back somewhat urgently, leaning down so that he was at eye level with Lumen. "What if he tells...? Won't that reflect badly on you...?"

" _I'll deal with that...!_  Just give me something to enjoy tonight, Hunter...! I've been waiting to see that condescending expression be wiped off his face  _all day...!_ " Lumen hissed through his teeth as he tried to offer the approaching lord a pleasant smile, Lord Gammon obviously failing to notice the not-so-subtle apprehensive expression on the king's face as the noble rubbed his hands together greedily, like something from a cartoon. His guard followed him in bright silver armour, the visor of his helmet pulled up to reveal the stiff, serious face of a middle-aged man with sharp brown eyes, a scruffy, yet short, black beard, and a hooked nose.

"How nice to see you again, Lord Gammon... This is the...ninth time we've run into each other today, if I'm not mistaken..." Lumen greeted him, desperately trying to sound welcoming as he stepped forwards, Hunter close by his side.

"Ah! Yes! It's as though fate is drawing us together, Your Majesty!" the man responded just as loudly as he ever had. Up close, Hunter could see the sweat on his hands and forehead, and he hoped for Lumen's sake that Lord Gammon would not offer him his hand.

"Yes...! Surely, it must mean something...!" Lumen responded with a shaky smile.

Meanwhile, Hunter became aware of the fact that someone was staring at him.  _Ah... The guard..._ Hunter turned to look at the guard who, surely enough, was staring down his hooked nose at Hunter with the same condescending glare that Lumen had described.

Hunter stared blankly. What did this man have against humanity? Perhaps this man had something against life, because if he'd been glaring at Magma, he might have lost his own. Surely he realised how ridiculous he looked, right? Glaring at the captain of the Spider Riders, of all people... It wasn't like this guy had a giant Battle Spider roaming around the castle somewhere. What did he have to be condescending about? This man was so short, too...and he was really starting to get on Hunter's nerves...

Hunter shot a glance at Lumen who returned the look, looking expectant. Hunter turned and regarded the man who was still staring at him as one would look at a smear of dung on their shoe. For once, Hunter put aside the fact that he was constantly forced to duck underneath doors, and he was glad that puberty had hit him like a train.

Standing at 6'5", and with all of his baby fat gone, Hunter struck an imposing figure. Even then, he towered over all of the people in the hallway, and he was, according to Lumen, quite possibly one of the tallest people in the Inner World where people didn't tend to get very tall by Hunter's standards. With his sharp, almost menacing green eyes standing out against his red hair, which he'd grown out to the point where it nearly brushed his ankles and tied up in a tight ponytail, he definitely looked like he was someone that shouldn't be messed with.

His white cape, which was held to his shoulder by a single sleek blue pauldron, flowed down over his light blue tunic, the orange jewel on his chest and the surrounding white lines mimicking the design of the Oracle Keys. A pair of slim black trousers and a pair of long white boots almost made Hunter seem taller than he already was. Hunter moved his gloved hands behind his back to where a large spear with an ornate blue pole, dotted with small orange gemstones, was strapped to his back, hoping to look a bit more dignified. He didn't like to toot his own horn, but Hunter wasn't quite sure how this man wasn't already pissing himself. It wasn't as though others hadn't done so, quite literally.

The glare that Hunter finally shot the man was not overly noticeable, but it was very sharp. Sharp enough that, taken by surprise, the guard jumped just enough to knock his visor down, sending it over his face with a loud clang. Lord Gammon jumped at the sound and rounded on his guard, his face already going red with embarrassment.

"What are you doing?!" Gammon practically screeched, drowning out Lumen's satisfied chuckle. They'd interrupted an 'important' talk, no doubt, and a poor guard reflects badly on their boss.

_Well done, Hunter Steele..._

Satisfied, and having given himself a mental pat on the back, Hunter averted his gaze and let his eyes scan the hallway with its red carpet, white walls, and many doors and windows as though looking for threats. Finally, after much shouting, the guard gave his excuse in a shaking voice.

"B-but, Hunter Steele glared at me, sir..."

Lord Gammon turned and carefully regarded him with his beady eyes before declaring, in a much quieter voice, "The good captain appears to be doing his job. Thank you for your service to our King, and our world, Captain Steele."

Keeping up appearances for Lumen's sake, Hunter turned his gaze to the floor and slowly bowed his head slightly in thanks for the acknowledgement before getting back to scanning the doors and windows once again. Briefly, his eyes fixed on Lumen, who was staring at him with an expression of satisfaction.

"Ah, yes. My good friend Hunter is certainly a credit to the Spider Riders. He earned his title through his strength, experience and loyalty. I must say, though..." Lumen trailed off, looking awkward, and Hunter wondered if it was feigned. "Well, I must say that I have been receiving complaints about your guard all day," Lumen finally told him matter-of-factly.

"C-complaints...?" Gammon stammered quietly. "A-about what, Your Majesty?"

_Oh...?_

"Well, some of the other guards and nobles were complaining that he was behaving in a condescending and intimidating manner. I wholeheartedly trust that you didn't order him to do such a thing," Lumen responded, his expression one of feigned innocent confusion.

_Oh..._

"N-no! No! Absolutely not, Your Majesty!" Gammon stammered on, his face becoming almost purple with embarrassment, all while retaining that sleazy grin of his.

_Lumen, you absolute genius..._

"I-I'll go. I'll discipline him immediately. P-please forgive us, Your Majesty..." Gammon bowed deeply before shuffling away with a brief, "Please excuse us," as his guard, his face still hidden by the visor, followed suit. Lumen simply waved lazily as they rounded the corner, and in time, their footsteps finally faded away.

As soon as he was sure that they were alone, Hunter bent down until he was level with King Lumen. "I think that went well," he said quietly, unable to hide the amusement in his voice. Lumen patted his shoulder.

"See? What did I say? We embarrassed that guard  _and_  got rid of Lord Gammon all at once," Lumen bragged, puffing out his chest.

"I'll never doubt you again," Hunter declared. He'd never felt such blind faith in the young king before, and it was over something like this.

Standing up straight, Hunter followed Lumen to the window as the king began to look at the crowd with a fond expression. "Gone are the days where I can revel with my people, I suppose. This is my life, now!" he finished dramatically, no doubt trying to improve the mood that he'd just inadvertently killed with a single sentence.

"Now, now. It's not that bad," Hunter responded with an awkward grin as he looked out over the buildings and out into the barren deserts and strange rock formations beyond the city. "You'll always have us to party with."

"Ugh..." Lumen groaned. "It's just not the same without all the pretty women..."

Suddenly, Hunter froze—an action which didn't escape Lumen. Hunter leaned forwards onto the windowsill as he stared out towards the rock formations, and Lumen found himself doing the same.

"What is it, Hunter?" Lumen asked urgently. "Danger?"

"I'm not sure. Look over there." Hunter pointed towards one of the larger rock formations, and Lumen followed his finger. Hunter knew that he saw what he'd seen, because Lumen, too, froze.

Out there in the dark, barely given form by the light of the lanterns, was a large black mass atop the rocks, and it was shifting occasionally, almost as though it were alive. Hunter watched on, looking for any sudden movements, and when none came, he hazarded an uneasy guess. "A trick of the light, maybe...?"

Lumen said nothing for a very long time. It was only when the mass visibly shifted to the side that he dared to speak. "That's definitely something."

"I'll find Shadow and head out. Even if it's nothing dangerous, we can't be too careful on a night like tonight," Hunter reasoned, more with himself than with his king.

Lumen gave no response, and Hunter correctly took it as an affirmative. Moving away from the window, Hunter strode down the hallways and up several flights of stairs. It was as he was approaching his room where Shadow was no doubt hiding away like a recluse that Lumen's voice finally came through the Manacle on his wrist.

"Calling all Spider Riders. Calling all Spider Riders. Are you there?" his voice asked quietly, a hint of unease making its way through. Magma's response was immediate.

"I'm here. What's wrong," the large Spider Rider asked, his voice urgent. He obviously disliked the tone of Lumen's voice, too.

Quickly, one by one, each Spider Rider declared their presence with a simple statement of, "Present, Your Majesty."

"Something has been sighted at the city's perimeter. North-East. Hunter is going to investigate. Say nothing for now. We don't want to cause a panic, especially if it's nothing to be worried over," Lumen ordered, slowly starting to sound more confident. "Pay close attention to your surroundings, and even closer attention to your Manacles. Find your Spiders if you're not already with them and be prepared to move out on Hunter's signal, should he give one. The guards will evacuate the people if necessary."

Hunter focused on heading to his bedroom, and when he finally opened the door, to his relief, he saw that he had been right. There was Shadow, watching the festivities. If Shadow had been able to make expressions, Hunter would have expected the giant blue grouch to be frowning. Partying was not his thing at all, and Shadow was not ashamed of that. In fact, he'd tell anyone who'd stop long enough to listen. The Battle Spider turned as Hunter entered, and gave a grunt.

"Too lively out there for me," Shadow grumbled, stepping back from the window to speak to Hunter properly.

"Well, too bad. We're going out. Lumen and I spotted something outside the city, towards the North-East," Hunter informed Shadow matter-of-factly. Shadow stiffened instinctively, gearing himself up for battle. "It was definitely alive, but it could be nothing important, I suppose. Even so, we can't risk something happening with all these people here. We'll check it out, and if it's too much for us to handle alone, we'll call in backup."

"Understood," Shadow immediately responded. He'd definitely entered battle mode. "There was only one, correct?" Hunter merely nodded as the Manacle finally fell silent, and he made his way back towards the door, Shadow following at his heels. "Any clue as to what it was?"

"No clue. It was too dark, but it was big, and it was definitely moving," Hunter told Shadow as the giant Battle Spider squeezed out through the door behind him. Shutting the door, the two made their way down the hallway. "We'll have to be discreet until we get out of the city. Think you can take us across the buildings if we leave from the top of the castle?"

"Easily," Shadow stated with an air of utmost confidence in his abilities as the pair climbed up the long flight of stairs that led to the roof. "What we'll need to be careful of is whatever you two saw."

The warm air, only slightly cooler than the air inside the castle, hit them the moment they opened the door. Closing the door after them so as not to arouse suspicion, Hunter raised his Manacle, and with a cry of, "Arachna Power!" the multicoloured light that was so familiar to him flowed over his body like water. Very soon, Hunter found himself in his usual armour, the Axial Pike clutched tightly in his hand. Hunter jumped on top of Shadow's back with practiced ease, and without having to wait for any sort of signal, Shadow immediately took off, silently soaring over the people below.

It didn't take long at all for Shadow to cover the distance, and both Spider and Rider quickly found themselves touching down outside the city, peering up at the rock formations that towered above them. Hunter hopped down, peering into the shadows, and Shadow stood nearby, attempting to do the same. There was no noise, which was, Hunter supposed, normal for the area, but considering the circumstances, he'd like to have been able to hear something, if only to get his bearings.

"Are you sure that this is the place, Hunter?" Shadow asked, sounding unsure.

"Yeah. Lumen and I both saw it. It should be out-"

Hunter quickly stopped himself as, finally, he saw something move in the shadows, not up on the rocks, but on the ground just beneath them where the shadows were the deepest. Hunter backed up and nudged Shadow, and as the Battle Spider followed his gaze, he immediately crouched, prepared to pounce on whatever the shadow was if it dared to come too close. Hunter gripped his weapon tightly, but feigned a polite smile regardless. What if it was nothing to be worried about, and they startled it? He shuffled forwards slightly and peered into the darkness.

"Who's there?" he questioned, watching carefully as the creature in the shadows shifted its weight. "This is Arachna. I'm the Spider Rider Hunter Steele, and this is my friend and partner, Shadow."

Silence.

"We mean no harm," Shadow immediately followed up. "Do you need aid? Are you lost or injured?"

More silence.

The creature shifted further, stepping out slightly, and Hunter and Shadow found themselves staring at a large dark green leg that could only belong to a somewhat small Battle Spider. Red eyes shone from the darkness as the Battle Spider watched them carefully, taking in their every movement. Hunter didn't dare to say anything, but Shadow inched forwards, taking the initiative now that they knew it to be a member of his own species. He eased out of his battle stance and called out to it.

"My name is Shadow," Shadow introduced himself once more, sounding a little less cautious. "Battle Spiders don't live out this far. Where are you from, young one? Has something happened? Have you been driven from your home?"

There was only more silence.

"Perhaps he's mute, like Flame," Shadow quietly reasoned to Hunter before raising his voice again. "Is this true? Are you unable to speak? Give us a sign if you aren't."

Finally, Shadow returned to Hunter's side. "I don't know, Hunter..." he muttered. "Something isn't right."

"I know," Hunter responded with a nod, "but we can't attack it. It's against the Oracle's Second Law."

The Oracle's Second Law: do not take the life of a Battle Spider, for they are the Oracle's sacred creatures. It was one of the Inner World's most well-kept laws, along with the First: do not take the life of a human being. There was nothing about Invectids, sadly, but they had already added that to their own laws. There was nothing to say that they couldn't, and the Invectids did the same in their lands as part of the peace process. It had worked well, fortunately, but it seemed then that the Law was about to work against them.

"We can't kill, but we can fight if need be," Shadow reasoned quietly.

Hunter nodded and made to step up on Shadow's back when, suddenly, from high above them, there was a long, fearsome hiss unlike anything Hunter had ever heard before. Instinctively, Hunter leapt onto Shadow's back, and the Spider launched himself out of the way just as a large white Battle Spider with uneven red edges to every plate of carapace and eight blood red eyes landed right where the pair had been standing. Spider and Rider backed away as the reality of the situation became apparent. They were even less alone than they'd thought. From out of the deep darkness, dozens upon dozens of eyes began to gleam out at them. Hunter without thinking, activated his Manacle.

"Calling all Spider Riders. Calling all Spider Riders. We have an emergency," Hunter hurriedly began. Just as he was about to continue, Lumen cut in, his tone urgent.

"What's your status?"

"Surrounded," Hunter told them honestly. "There's a small army of Battle Spiders out here."

"Battle Spiders?!" Corona responded with a gasp. "We can't-"

"I know," Hunter quickly responded, eager to get reinforcements, "but regardless, we've been attacked. They're hostile, and are apparently refusing to communicate. We need to drive them off somehow."

"Understood," Magma piped up, sounding worried. "We're on our way. Hang in there."

"Will do," Hunter responded, glancing around the hundreds of eyes that stared at him. "Hurry. I can't hold off this many for long."

Shadow backed away. "Should we run?"

"No," Hunter quickly responded. "The other Riders should be with the Battle Spiders like Lumen ordered. They won't take long. We have to hold these guys off."

"We can't risk getting swarmed. If they attack, we have to keep moving and deflecting," Shadow strategised, watching the group carefully.

"Agreed. If they swarm us, we're done for," Hunter responded, for once annoyed that they had made the decision to lock up the Oracle Keys. The speed boost would have been nice. "If we can manage to get up on the rocks, we should."

"Right," Shadow agreed gruffly, already launching himself at one of the larger rock formations, and just like that, the Battle Spiders started to move.

They were untrained, sure, but obvious problems came from facing such large numbers. Webs flew into the night sky, trying to get hold of either Hunter or Shadow as the two made their way up at the fastest speeds they could manage, and every so often, a massive Spider would launch itself out of the shadows, intent on ramming into the pair, or latching onto them with their giant legs, and Hunter knew that trying to get out of such a grip would be like trying to rip through metal with his bare hands.

Hunter ducked out of the way of another Spider, allowing it to harmlessly soar over his head, and watching as it plummeted to the ground, landing on another group of Spiders, all of whom seemed furious and relatively unharmed. Almost as soon as Shadow reached the top, he leaped for the nearby rocks, hoping to put distance between himself and the Spiders who were relentlessly pursuing them. Chancing a glance backwards, Hunter saw the forms of his friends leaping across the city as quickly as they could go, heading straight in their direction.

"They're coming, Shadow! I see them!" Hunter declared, sounding somewhat relieved as he jabbed the Axial Pike at a large red Spider that dared to come close. It retreated with a hiss as the blade narrowly missed its unnerving green eyes.

"I don't understand!" Shadow shouted over the sound of the rushing wind. "What provoked them?!"

"I don't know! Maybe Lumen can talk them down and we'll find out what's going on!" Already, Hunter was imagining what could possibly have caused the Spiders to have such a response. Had a human killed one of them? Had their forest been burnt down? Why in Arachna were they so angry, and how could they be calmed? Even with his expertise in ending conflicts without further conflict, could King Lumen even achieve such a thing?

Over the noise of the pounding footsteps of the Spiders and their angered hisses, and with all of the thoughts that were buzzing around his head like a swarm of angry wasps, it took Hunter a good few seconds to realise that Shadow had been chased from the rocks by a group of several spiders, and had dropped to the ground. Already, the Spiders were starting to surround them.

"Any way out of this, buddy...?" Hunter asked hopefully, glancing down at his faithful partner.

"Be quiet," Shadow spat, his head shifting as he looked around at the Spiders who were slowly approaching. "I'm thinking. This isn't good... The others need to get here, and they need to do it now."

Hunter realised that his Manacle was suddenly going off. He blocked a large leg with his shield and hurriedly activated it, lifting it to his face.

"Hunter!" Lumen barked with a sense of urgency that Hunter had never heard him use before.

_He sounds...afraid...but that's not true, right?_

"What's wrong, Lumen?!" Hunter shouted a little louder than he had intended to. Then again, Hunter was a little more nervous than he'd intended to be, too...

"Hunter, get out of there! Look up! We can see the Spider from here!" Lumen shouted desperately, his voice cracking.

_That's really fear, isn't it...?_

"Move!" Hunter heard Corona scream through the Manacle.

Shadow crouched, intending to use his powerful legs to leap away from the Spiders as well as he could, and Hunter looked up towards the Spiders who still crowded the rocks above him and...

"By the Oracle..." Hunter muttered numbly. "It's huge..."

It  _was_  huge, and it was coming right at them, plummeting from the rocks at speeds that Shadow could never hope to match.

"Hold on!" Shadow shouted, sounding panicked as his entire body shifted, and the Spider launched himself into the air.

_It's too fast..._

The next few moments were a painful blur. Shadow was forced back to the ground as the impossibly large Spider landed directly on top of Hunter. There were flashes of black and a sickly green colour as Hunter felt multiple bones on the right side of his body break from the sheer weight of the Spider, and the force of the collision. Shadow began to buck wildly, screaming something unintelligible as Hunter felt something rip through his flesh all the way from his stomach to his shoulder, and a white hot pain unlike anything Hunter had ever felt before rapidly began to spread throughout his body. A bloodcurdling scream ripped from Hunter's throat as the Spider was finally thrown off, and Hunter tumbled from Shadow's back.

As the pain consumed him and the world rapidly went dark and silent, Hunter could barely make out the sound of a voice.

A scream.

_Shadow...?_

 


	2. Blood and Screams

When Corona and Venus touched down with the rest of the team, it was to a horrible, almost otherworldly sound unlike any they'd ever heard before, and it took a few seconds too long for them to realise where such a noise had come from in the first place. Struck numb with shock, Corona watched on as the massive blue Battle Spider before her crouched low over a body that, despite once being so strong and tall, now seemed so small and broken, something like a hiss and a bloodcurdling scream seemingly emanating from Shadow's entire being.

How can a living creature make such a harrowing sound…?

Corona's breath hitched in her throat as the Spiders around them all shifted strangely, some even going so far as to step away from the scene, almost as though they were uncomfortable with the display. Her gaze fixed on the shock of red underneath Shadow's tense body, Corona swallowed heavily against the painful lump that was rapidly forming in her throat.

"Wha… What's he doing…?" Corona heard Magma say breathlessly from her left. "Why would he make a noise like that…?"

"Grief…" Venus responded slowly, sounding just as numb as Corona felt.

"G-grief…?" Corona echoed hollowly, her legs threatening to give out as she slowly began to process the horrific implications of the word. She struggled to think of something—anything—that she could say to deny such an eventuality, yet the words simply wouldn't come. Her mind was filled with nothing but the sound of echoing screams, and fear that the person she loved more than anything else in the world could possibly have been taken away from her, and so quickly, without any warning. Not even a blaze of glory to mark his passing.

"Don't be silly!" Corona vaguely heard Lumen shout to her left as Ebony took a step forwards, his white exoskeleton glowing softly in the dim light of the Oracle's Sun. "We have no confirmation of such a thing!"

Corona slowly turned her head towards her king, desperately trying to believe his words, but it was just so… _hard…!_

"Those spiders won't be distracted for long," Lumen continued, his mouth set in a grim line, his eyes cold like steel. "I'm going to need everyone to surround Shadow and Hunter. Protect them and drive off the Spiders, but don't cause them any harm. We don't know if they know of the Oracle's Law, yet. Once you're in place and the area around those two has been secured, I'll extract Hunter from the situation and see if I can get Shadow to follow." Lumen turned to face Corona and his gaze softened. "Corona, fall back."

His blunt words shocked Corona back into action. "W-why?!" she stammered. "I'm perfectly capable of fighting! I-"

"It's not that, Corona," Lumen responded quickly, although Corona could tell from his expression that this was exactly the reason why he was stopping her. "I have a job for you."

_A job?_  Corona thought to herself.  _Is he giving me some random job to get me out of the way?_

Before Corona could retort, Lumen continued on unabated, his gaze hardening once more. "When I've extracted Hunter, he's going to need urgent medical attention. I fully intend on jumping back into the fray after this. The Spider Riders are already without their commander. They cannot be without their leader. I want you, Corona and Venus, to go back to the castle with Hunter and Shadow. Get Hunter and Shadow whatever help they need and check on the evacuation proceedings. Stay behind to protect the people in the event that we fall."

Corona felt her heart sink at the mere thought of such an eventuality. "Surely, that's not a possibility!"

"It's always a possibility," Lumen told her bluntly, "especially so with a horde as large as this. If we fall, you and Sparkle will be the only Spider Riders left. Send the soldiers across the land to spread the news, and evacuate the people to Nuuma, and to any other kingdom that's far enough away and willing to take you all. Get Hunter help, and when he's better—and he  _will_  be—if it's at all possible, try to rectify the situation. If we fall, Arachna falls. That's it."

His words, to Corona's despair, rang true. This entire plan hinged on the Battle Spiders being unable to call their bluff, and that was a hard thing to bet on. In addition to that,  _someone_  needed to get Hunter to safety, and Corona had to admit, she needed to be the one to do so, if only for her own peace of mind. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but turn to her sister.

"You'll be back, right, Aqune…?" she almost pleaded, her voice soft, barely heard over Shadow's harrowing screams. Aqune turned to her and fixed her with a stern, but loving gaze, giving her a thumbs-up signal—a habit she'd gotten from Hunter, no doubt.

Corona nodded slowly and stiffly as Aqune looked away and Portia crouched along with the other Spiders. Venus backed up, not waiting for a command from her Rider, and she crouched down, too, preparing to spring away at a moment's notice. There was a moment of silence as each of the Riders observed the opposing Spiders closely, watching carefully for any changes in their behaviour, and then…

…They sprang into action! The Spiders didn't need to hear a word from their Riders. The time was right, and they knew it. Both Spiders and Riders launched forwards at breakneck speeds, and Corona could feel Venus tense further underneath her feet. The Spiders, perfectly synched, fell in a circle around Shadow, who instinctively reacted to the new arrivals, pulling his body down closer to Hunter, his screams dying down to an agitated hiss as he struggled to wrap his mind around the new development, slowly recognising the people around him as friends, not foes.

Lumen and Ebony deftly fell into the middle of the ring of Spider Riders, and slowly, he dismounted and brought his hands up, clearly unsure of what move the distressed Battle Spider in front of him would take next. In the ensuing quiet, Corona could hear Lumen's soft, soothing voice quietly echo across the battlefield.

"Shadow, it's OK… It's us…" Lumen soothed. "We're going to hold our ground here. I'm going to put Hunter on your back. Wrap him down tight with webbing. Make sure he doesn't fall off. Take him to Corona—she's over there—and return to Arachna Castle with her. He'll get the help he needs there," Lumen told the Spider softly.

Even from afar, Corona could see Shadow start to relax somewhat, and she could almost imagine the spark of recognition that had no doubt lit up his eyes under that translucent piece of exoskeleton that covered his eyes. Slowly, Shadow backed away, allowing Lumen access to Hunter's prone form beneath the Spider, and carefully, Lumen pulled his commander free.

As the Spiders surrounding him boldly stepped forwards on occasion in challenge, hoping to keep the enemy at bay, Lumen took a moment to press his ear against Hunter's chest, listening for any sign of life. Shadow watched on, twitching nervously while the Spider Riders around them quickly glanced back at Hunter, hoping for some sort of positive news. Corona, herself, couldn't help but tightly clasp her hands in front of her, hoping, praying to the Oracle that Hunter was all right.

After what seemed like hours, Lumen let out a slow sigh. "Shadow, he's alive, but I need you to move quickly," Lumen told the Spider, his tone leaving no room for argument. Shadow nodded slowly, but Lumen wasn't done yet. Carefully placing Hunter atop Shadow's back, his gaze hardened once more and he turned to face the Spiders around him. "Go," he said, climbing back onto Ebony. His voice echoed a lot louder than it had previously. "We'll kill as many of them as we have to."

Corona didn't need to hear his voice quaver and tense just to know that he was lying, but even so, the effect was immediate. It had been, Corona realised, an integral part of the plan. The opposing Battle Spiders had reacted immediately. Slowly, hisses of agitation started to emit from the Spiders, and each of them began to crouch, ready for battle.

They'd fallen for the bluff.

Needless to say, Shadow didn't wait. Something shot up into the air, gleaming white, and wrapped itself around Hunter and Shadow with practiced ease. It was webbing, no doubt, for no sooner had it wrapped around Hunter than Shadow had taken off as fast as his legs could carry him. Caught off guard by his sudden burst of speed, Venus stumbled as she turned and sped off after Shadow. Thankfully, her lighter, leaner body allowed her to catch up with ease, and as the sounds of shouting and metal against hard exoskeleton rang out from behind them, Venus managed to pull up next to Shadow, keeping his pace as they left the wasteland and entered the beds of pink flowers that surrounded the castle.

Corona couldn't help but glance backwards, hoping that she wouldn't see any pursuers as the two reached the sheer cliff faces that had kept Arachna Castle so well protected up to this point. It would, Corona knew, do nothing to keep Spiders out. She hoped that her friends would be able to hold off the Spiders, but even if they did, it wouldn't be over. Corona felt her heart ache at the prospect of a war that they couldn't win. Her friends would certainly win this fight. She refused to believe that they couldn't, but nevertheless, sooner or later, the Spiders would catch on. They'd know that they weren't being killed. They'd step up their game, and it'd either end in their defeat, or Arachna being abandoned. Neither prospect was an outcome that she wanted to think about.

What was once a law that Corona would have actively praised, Corona was now beginning to question it. Did the Spirit Oracle not foresee such an eventuality? Had she doomed the people that she had sworn to protect to a fate of death just by choosing to instate Battle Spiders as her sacred creatures, rivalled by no other? What would she do, now? Would she end the law? Send them some sort of sign? Surely, she couldn't leave them to die!

No. Sooner or later, she'd appear in the sky as she did so many years ago. She'd tell them that she'd changed her mind, and they'd all be saved. After all, that was what the Oracle did. She was kind. Benevolent. She would not allow her chosen warriors and the people they protected to lose their home. She would not allow them to die. Such a fact was a given, and yet, as Corona glanced over at Hunter, whom she had not yet seen properly, a pang of doubt entered her heart.

If she was coming, where was she…?

The Spiders reached the plateau faster than they ever had before, and just as they leapt over the edge, Corona chanced another glance backwards, capturing a quick snapshot of the scene below in her mind. There was Magma, hurling his mighty Morning Star at a Spider that had gotten too close. Aqune and Portia were lunging into the fray, and Ebony stood out like a beacon in the darkness. There were, to Corona's relief, no pursuers.

With that in mind, Corona turned her gaze to the other problem—Hunter. Despite their more immediate concerns, the young man had never left her mind. She leaned her right foot down on Venus, and Venus immediately began to move to the right towards where Shadow was running.

Unable to swallow her nerves, Corona looked over at Shadow, praying with all her might that it wouldn't be as bad as she thought it would be, but deep in her heart, she knew that Hunter wouldn't just fall like that if it wasn't serious, and the venom… Corona didn't want to know what effect Battle Spider venom would have on a human, and she wasn't keen on finding out, but nevertheless…she snuck a glance at Hunter.

Immediately, she regretted it. The thread that had been wrapped around Hunter was quite thin, leaving Hunter's injury on show. Corona felt nauseous as she caught a glimpse of the jagged gashes across Hunter's torso and the strange mixture of blood and a sickly green substance that flowed from freely them, coating his long hair which had been largely freed from its ponytail, dying it a deep crimson, hiding the beautiful shade of red that Corona had come to love so dearly. Panic settled in her chest as she noted that his clothing and armour had practically been ripped open, and with that in mind, Corona dreaded to think of how deep his wounds were.

Corona contemplated stopping. That blood loss would surely kill him before the venom did if, indeed, that was a risk, and so, she wondered if it was worth their while to bandage the wounds with Battle Spider silk. On the other hand, they were quickly coming up on Arachna Castle, and Corona was instead left wondering if they should just leave him be. Perhaps the precious seconds that would be taken up by them stopping would be a matter of life and death for Hunter.

Corona tore her gaze away from Hunter and stared up at the castle, instead, tears of despair and frustration prickling at the corner of her eyes. She didn't know what to do. Hunter was disappearing right in front of her, and there was nothing she could do about it. Waves of emotion, held back by adrenaline in the heat of the moment, hit her like a rolling boulder, and she barely bit back a sob. She took another look at Hunter's pale face, and tried to imagine a world without him in it. It wasn't right, and she couldn't do it. A world without Hunter in it wasn't a world that she wanted to live in.

Corona's fists tightened at her sides, her nails digging into her palms so hard that they bled. A world like that couldn't be allowed to happen, but at this rate, she had no idea how she could stop it. Corona was grateful as she felt Venus speed up beneath her, having sensed her Rider's emotions. Corona reached up to wipe the tears from her face, only to feel more well up. She longed to jump onto Shadow's back—to be closer to Hunter—but knew that the extra weight would only slow Shadow down. The thought that she couldn't check on him, and that he may already have slipped away was too much to bear, so she chose to focus her mind on something else.

Corona swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. Hunter would survive this. He had to, and when he did… Heck! Both of them were adults, and they'd been dating for years! The moment this was over—and it would be over—Corona resolved that she'd marry him. Whether Hunter accepted her proposal or not, she'd try as many times as it took. He wouldn't slip away from her that easily, even if it hurt his pride to be the one who was proposed to. They would have a beautiful ceremony, and she'd wear that white dress she'd dreamed of wearing for roughly the last 3 minutes of her life. If it wasn't Hunter, it would never be anybody else!

Corona had, in fact, been so enamoured with this image that she had completely missed the fact that they were now leaping across the rooftops towards the castle, handheld lanterns twinkling in the darker streets beneath them as people carrying copious amounts of luggage slowly and cautiously made their way from their homes and the festivities to the evacuation point at the other side of the castle. The reality of the situation hit Corona once more and she broke out in a cold sweat. The colourful lanterns and streamers, still glinting warmly and merrily, suddenly seemed to be taunting Corona and she wanted nothing more than to put them out.

It wasn't much longer before the Spiders and their Riders were able to burst through the castle doors, startling the guards into dropping their weapons. Shadow, who had been eerily silent the entire time, seemed to understand that he needed to loosen his hold on Hunter as Corona leapt off Venus and began to gently slide him off of Shadow's back. She turned towards the guards, knowing full well that her eyes were wide with fear and puffy from crying.

"Someone get a healer!" Corona bellowed, narrowly stopping herself from screaming. The guards stared at her as though she had two heads. This time, she didn't hold back.  _"Get a healer! He needs a healer!"_

The guards were spurred into action, although Corona was more inclined to believe that it was out of fear of her and not of any genuine altruism. Several of them took off, scrambling to get down the corridor, the plates of their armour clanking and creaking and screeching so much that it made Corona start to notice the headache that was starting to come on.

There was no way Corona would be able to lift Hunter up the many flights of stairs to get him to the infirmary, and the halls ahead became too narrow for Spiders to crawl through. As such, Corona resolved herself to wait. There was nothing else that she could do for him, as much as that frustrated her…unless…

A previous thought hit Corona and she almost smacked herself in the face over her own stupidity. Barely able to ignore the blood that was staining her clothes, Corona tore Hunter's clothing open further and turned to face her faithful partner. Venus stepped forwards at the prospect of being able to help, but took no initiative.

"Yes?" she asked quickly, eager to be of help.

Corona gestured to the wounds across Hunter's chest. "It'll take them a while to get down here, and even longer to get him up to the infirmary. He's bleeding too much. I need you to use your webbing as a bandage across here," Corona began, gesturing to the wounds, themselves, "and here," she finished, waving a hand over Hunter's stomach.

Venus nodded and aimed her head at Hunter as Corona repositioned him to allowed Venus to have access to his wounds. However, before she could even begin, webbing shot out of Shadow's spinnerets, tightly wrapping around Hunter's wounds and securing the makeshift bandages around his stomach. Corona could only stare for a moment. Shadow was staring eagerly at her, waiting for her to say something else. Corona, unsure of what to say, looked down at Hunter in her arms, wincing as she took in the fact that his skin had now turned a sickening shade of grey.

"He'll be fine…" Corona stated, more to herself than to Shadow.

Suddenly, Venus stepped up to Shadow, her gentle voice sounding a lot more confident than Corona's. "He'll fight… We'll have him back soon…"

* * *

Lumen gritted his teeth as his short sword lodged itself in the carapace of a dark brown Battle Spider, not deep enough to kill, but deep enough to nick the soft flesh beneath it. The Spider hissed and cursed in pain, pulling against Lumen's sword until it dislodged from his carapace. Hissing in anger and pain, the Spider retreated to a safe distance.

Suddenly, to his left, there was a sickening crack and a female Spider screamed in pain. Lumen quickly turned to see the Morning Star firmly lodged in the carapace of the red Spider which was desperately struggling to get away. Magma yanked his weapon free and made to strike the Spider again—a move which he would undoubtedly not carry through with—and the Spider hurriedly backed away, cowering as haemolymph leaked from its wounds. Lumen winced guiltily as he finally noticed the colourless substance on his own sword.

"Thanks, Magma…" the king muttered, turning his attention back to the task at hand.

"No problem. They're sneaky. One of them nearly got me. Would have done, too, if my armour hadn't been so thick," Magma admitted, his eyes narrowed in concentration.

Lumen grimaced. Nevertheless, it was going well. They'd been injuring Spiders left, right and centre, and so far, it looked as though none of them had called Lumen's bluff. Already, perfectly healthy Spiders were beginning to sneak away from the fight. Nevertheless, there was one question at the back of Lumen's mind. That giant Spider… The one who had attacked Hunter…

Where had it gone…?

Clearly, this Spider was the biggest threat of all, yet for all its size, Lumen couldn't see it for the life of him. It had disappeared almost as soon as it had attacked Hunter. He gripped his sword tightly, watching out for the sickly green colour of its exoskeleton, but he could see nothing. This wasn't good. It was too strong. Too fast. He had wanted to keep an eye on it. He couldn't risk it ambushing him or any of his friends.

Suddenly, there was a grunt from next to him, and Lumen turned his head just in time to see a large orange spider with particularly thick exoskeleton jump back after ramming itself into Brutus with all the strength it could muster. The silent Battle Spider, despite its strength, had been thrown backwards, and Magma had been thrown from his back. Lumen barely held back a curse and turned Ebony around to jump to his friend's aid, but it wasn't needed.

Before Lumen could launch himself forwards to stand by his friend's side, there was a flash of purple and a glint of silver as Portia placed herself between Brutus and Magma, and the other Spider which had just launched itself forwards, attempted to charge at the downed Spider and its Rider. Aqune leapt from Portia's back, her rapier glinting in the dying light of the Sun.

The rapier was brought down hard on the orange Spider's legs, and the Spider let out a roar of pain as the limb was sliced clean from its body. Lumen grimaced, but convinced himself that it would be OK. After all, it had more legs where that came from, and the leg would just grow back during its next moult. He tore his eyes away from the distressed Spider, knowing full well that there was no time for pity. They were the ones being attacked, after all.

Despite the absence of their biggest threat, Lumen was glad to see that a large portion of the Battle Spiders had backed off and were cowering in the shadows. Such a thing was good to see. Perhaps they were on the verge of retreat. Even so, it was a dangerous thing. At any moment, seeing that its comrades were backing off, that giant Battle Spider could jump back into the fray, and Lumen could give no guarantees about what would happen after that.

With their own fully trained Battle Spiders, and the powers gifted to them by the Oracle, the Spiders that were scattered across the battlefield were little more than small fry. Their partners could dodge faster and strike harder than anything these Battle Spiders could manage, and the weapons of the Riders could easily pierce the natural armour that coated their bodies.

That other Spider, however, was a completely different story. It was fast, strong, and highly intelligent. Perhaps even more so than their partners. Not even Shadow had been able to get out of its way, and it had outthought the two of them, being able to stay hidden before dropping on them with perfect timing. It was formidable, and Lumen couldn't shake the feeling that the mighty creature had probably received some sort of formal training at some point, but how? Who would have trained a Battle Spider to attack human beings?

Suddenly, the area went largely quiet. Everything stopped moving, and Lumen noticed a strange sound that had begun to full the area. It was a slow, rhythmic thumping sound, like someone beating a large drum. To Lumen's astonishment, the Spiders slowly began to back away, some moving well, others limping and dragging their legs from the injuries that had been inflicted upon them.

Lumen rapidly looked around the area, searching for the source of the noise that was evidently controlling these Spiders so well, but he could see nothing in the darkness. The Spiders inched further and further away, and finally, Lumen figured out the direction that the sound was coming from—somewhere right in front of him. The other Spider Riders quickly caught on, and began to turn towards the source of the noise.

"Who's there?!" Lumen demanded, unable to keep the anger from his voice. "You're the leader, aren't you?!"

What echoed back was a strange voice, booming across the wasteland. It didn't sound like any human, Spider, or even Invectid that Lumen had ever heard before. It was slow and almost metallic. The echo seemed to be coming from the voice, itself, rather than from their surroundings. It was deep and, if Lumen had to say, almost garbled.

"You are…the king, yes…? The leader…?" it responded slowly and carefully.

Lumen peered through the darkness hoping to catch any sign of a figure. "That I am," Lumen responded, his tone one of forced calm.

The Spiders parted in front of him, and slowly, the figure that Lumen had been dreading to see emerged from the darkness. There was that gargantuan Spider, larger than any he'd ever seen, a sickly green venom still dripping from its fangs, blood coating its face. Lumen gritted his teeth, forcing the anger within him to calm.

"You are, I suppose, leading these Spiders," Lumen continued, tightly clutching his sword, watching for any sudden movements. He heard Magma grunt as he mounted Brutus once more.

"Indeed," the Spider responded bluntly. "You are shockingly formidable. I did not expect such a response."

"I have to ask," Lumen began, seeing the flattery for what it was, "what has spurred these actions?"

"You have to ask?" the Spider asked slowly, its voice almost mechanical. Lumen couldn't read its emotions, but he thought that he could see something akin to surprise flash in its bright red eyes, standing out so starkly against its black exoskeleton, every plate surrounded by a rim of green. "You are denser than I suspected, King Lumen."

Lumen bristled in anger, but tried hard to ensure that the stress didn't get to him. "Dense?" he echoed. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. We have done nothing to harm the Battle Spiders before today."

"You are mistaken," the Spider droned on. Lumen could swear that it was at least attempting to sound condescending. "Humans are the enemies of the Battle Spiders."

"Again, I'm afraid that I don't understand," Lumen responded, his tone hardening somewhat. They were talking in circles. "Has a human injured you?"

"Tell me, young king, what are you doing right now?" the Spider asked. He was, Lumen decided, definitely condescending.

"Right now? Well, I suppose I'm talking to the leader of a group of aggressors in the hope that we can resolve this without any further harm coming to either side," Lumen suggested, knowing full well that it wasn't the answer that the Spider was thinking of.

"Hmm… Correct, I suppose…" the Spider muttered, "although it was not the answer that I was looking for, and that is certainly not what we want. Let me try again. Who are you standing upon right now?"

Lumen glanced down at Ebony beneath him. The Spider stiffened uncomfortably.  _What his he suggesting?_  Lumen thought to himself as he fixed his gaze on the Spider before him once more. "Why, this is my partner, Ebony," Lumen finally responded, doing his best to sound friendly now that they'd stopped to talk.

"Partner, you say…?" the Spider responded even more slowly than before. "I think not."

"How so?" Lumen asked with an awkward chuckle. "I assure you, the bond between a Spider and his or her Rider is entirely mutual."

"What say you, fellow Spider?" the Spider questioned, ignoring Lumen entirely. Ebony, as usual, remained silent. "Have you nothing to say?" Again, there was more silence.

"What are you insinuating, sir?" Lumen demanded, his voice becoming more forceful. The Spider raised its head again, locking eyes with the young king once more.

"Leader of the Spider Riders, I put this to you: is this not unfair?" the Spider asked vaguely. Lumen frowned.

"What I find unfair is that you would attack my commander and his partner unprovoked," Lumen responded, unable to stop himself from gritting his teeth. The Spider chuckled in response to his anger.

"I am not talking about your commander, King Lumen," the Spider continued. "I am talking about  _us."_

"'Us' as in our partners?" Lumen questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"The very same," the Spider replied with a chuckle. "You are catching on."

"Are you suggesting that our partners are in an unfair position?" Lumen stated slowly, barely able to wrap his head around this accusation.

"Exactly so. We Battle Spiders should not be doing your bidding, nor should we be expected to fight for you with nothing in return," the Spider told Lumen bluntly. Lumen barely stopped himself from spluttering in shock.

"Are you insinuating that we force our partners to fight for us?" Lumen nearly spat out, disbelieving.

"That is exactly what I am sayi-"

"I apologise for interrupting," a smooth voice from beneath Lumen spoke, "but I do not like this insinuation."

"Oh?" the Spider responded as Ebony took a step forwards, unbidden. Lumen was, to be honest, somewhat grateful to his partner for finally speaking up.

"I would like to ask, who are you to accuse  _my_  Rider of such a thing?" Ebony continued unabated.

"I am Peste," the Spider introduced himself, "and if you listen to what I have to say, maybe you three will come to understand." He gestured to Portia, Brutus and Ebony in turn.

"You don't seem to have listened to Lumen," Ebony continued, sounding somewhat impassive. "He has told you of our situation. We fight with our partners, the humans, based on a mutual bond of trust. Without that trust, we would be unable to make use of the Oracle's power. It is you, Peste, who is mistaken."

The reaction was immediate. The agitated hissing started up once more, accompanied by yells from the Spiders that surrounded them.

"Lies!"

"He's been brainwashed!"

"How dare you?!"

Suddenly, Portia's voice cut through the din. "I agree with Ebony!" she shouted, stepping closer to the white Battle Spider. The Spiders around them merely hissed louder. "I choose to be with Aqune over any other creature on this planet! She and I are equals!"

"I, too, stand with Ebony!" Brutus added, shouting even louder over the cries of the other Battle Spiders which were all increasing in volume by the second. "Magma went out of his way to reunite my sister and I! He went above and beyond anything he ever owed me! I can think of no one else I'd rather stand beside!"

"Brutus…" Lumen heard Magma mutter, his voice barely more than a whisper. "That's not true… You saved my life… I owe you far more than this…" He sounded, Lumen noted, very touched.

Brutus laughed softly. "You still don't realise how much you've done for me, have you, Magma?"

"Portia… After all you've put up with, we're not equals… I owe you far too much…" Aqune told Portia, staring down at her Battle Spider.

"Oh, don't be silly, Aqune," Portia responded. "We got into that nonsense as a team, and we got out of it as one, too."

"Do you hear them, Peste?" Ebony suddenly asked, taking a step forwards, his voice louder than Lumen had heard it in years, back when the Spider was a lot more talkative. "How can you call the experiences that we've had together a lie?" Ebony fell silent for a second. The Spiders around them didn't calm down, clearly enraged that their leader was being spoken to in such a manner. "You heard it, didn't you…?" he finally said quietly, his voice still carrying despite the noise. "You heard Battle Spider Shadow."

Lumen couldn't help but tense, that awful sound running through his mind again. The Riders and Spiders quieted. Lumen swallowed hard, and as he did so, he felt Ebony lean back ever so slightly, leaning into his feet as much as he could without knocking Lumen off—the only form of comfort he could show at that moment. Lumen looked over at Peste who was standing quite still, almost as though he had turned to a statue where he stood. Lumen heard Ebony take a deep breath.

"You heard it. You all did," Ebony continued, slightly louder. "You heard that noise. That horrible noise. My comrade, Venus, was right, Peste. That was grief. Are you saying that those emotions were a lie?"

"I said no such thing," Peste responded after a slight pause, his tone matter-of-fact. "Your emotions are real. Understandable, even, but also…wrong."

"Wrong?" Portia echoed from beside Lumen, her tone one of disbelief. "How can our feelings be wrong?"

"Poor creatures…" Peste tutted. "They have you under their thumbs, don't they? They have you believing all of this, and yet, you are being used."

Lumen, as he listened to Peste's words, couldn't help but think that the Battle Spider sounded somewhat like a stereotypical supervillain from a play. These words were coming so easily to him—so easily that it almost sounded…wrong, if Lumen had to pick a word. The Spider Rider couldn't help but frown, a feeling that he couldn't place tugging at the back of his mind.

"Nevertheless…" Peste continued, taking a quick glance at the bleeding orange Spider with the missing limb that stood near him, eyeing the Spider Riders warily, "you have all done enough damage today. My fellow Spiders and I will be returning, now."

"W-what…?" Lumen found himself spluttering at the sudden unexpected turn of events.  _He changed his mind so quickly…_

Peste gave the ground a few slow thumps with his leg, the rhythmical sound of a drum beat returning to the area, and suddenly, the noises that were being emitted by the Spiders around them stopped entirely.

"We will return to our homes to recover. You humans have caused enough pain. Be warned, though: these Spiders before you are not the only Spiders who are willing to fight," Peste told the group, sounding smug. "As for you all," Peste continued, looking around at the faces of Ebony, Portia and Brutus before him as the Spiders behind him began to fade into the shadows, "you would be wise to leave if you can. These transgressions will not go unpunished."

Quick as a flash, Peste was gone, leaving only a cloud of dust in his wake. Suddenly, Lumen felt very numb.  _What was that?_  he thought to himself, now suddenly shaking with suppressed emotions that were coming to the fore.  _He left so quickly…and what was all that nonsense about us forcing our Spiders into servitude?!_

"The absolute cheek of it…" Lumen growled under his breath, his grip on his weapon faltering despite knowing full well that the Spiders could quite possibly still be there, faking their absence, waiting until the time was right and their guards were down to pick them all off.

"W-what now, Your Majesty…?" Magma asked warily, choking on his own words.

"F-for now, we check the area… Make sure that they're really gone…" Lumen muttered, staring down at Ebony who had gone silent once more. "After that…we'll return to the castle. Join up with everybody else. Discuss what this was all about. Something's not right with that Peste. I know it."

"A-and what about…?" Aqune began, slowly trailing off.

"That's also a priority," Lumen told her sternly, fixing his gaze on her. "Spider Riders stand together. We're not leaving Hunter and Shadow alone in a time like this." Lumen heard Magma shift uncomfortably at the mere mention of their fallen friend and his Spider. Nevertheless, Lumen continued.

"Until then, though, we need to spread out. This would have been much easier with Igneous, but he's no longer capable. We will have to make do with the six of us here. You four will go that way," Lumen ordered, gesturing towards the Riders and their Spiders before him, before pointing around towards the right side of the plateau upon which Arachna Castle stood. "Go around the area from this point. Go wide. Search thoroughly. I'll go the other way. If you find any sign of a Battle Spider that isn't where it should be, let me know immediately. If all goes well, we'll meet at the other side, and we'll head back together. Until then, don't stray from one another."

"What about you?" Magma asked uncertainly, glancing nervously at the spot where the Spiders had disappeared.

"Ebony and I will be fine, and if anything occurs, you will be notified," Lumen responded matter-of-factly, turning to face his own path around the plateau. "Come on, Ebony. We have no time to waste."

The silent Spider, glowing silver in the low light, leapt into the night.


End file.
